USA vs Japan F1D Postal
Tom Vallee
The Japan vs. U.S.A. F1D Postal Contest provides a great opportunity for all indoor fliers to engage in world-class competition at readily available local flying sites.
I served as an official timer for the Japanese team at the 1990 Indoor World Championships at Johnson City, Tennessee. In this capacity, I had the good fortune to meet two leaders of the indoor modeling world: England's Mike Colling and Japan's Shigeyoshi Nonaka.
I challenged Mike Colling to a MiniStick postal contest between his club and our local indoor group. Mike turned my proposal for an interclub MiniStick postal into the great International MiniStick Postal Contest.
I forwarded a copy of the rules to Mr. Nonaka, along with Mike's invitation to participate in the postal contest. He liked the idea and organized a team of 14 MiniStick fliers. This excellent participation by the Japanese fliers assured the success of the MiniStick Postal as an international event.
With this happy collaboration behind us, I exchanged letters with Mr. Nonaka about the idea of running a Japan vs. the United States F1D (FAI Stick) postal contest. We agreed on the following simple set of rules:
Rules
- Three-man teams.
- F1D models flown six rounds per FAI rules over one or two flying days.
- Category I (eight-meter ceiling) flying sites. No fudge factor—best time wins.
Editor's Note
A "fudge factor" is often used in indoor postal contests to allow for ceiling-height differences. Higher-ceiling sites yield better times—at least in theory—so the fudge factor normalizes flight times. No fudge factor was used here, because the ceiling heights were so similar.
For the first contest (1991), each country had only one team. Japan's team consisted of Hideyo Enomoto, team captain Shigeyoshi Nonaka, and Hideharu Odagiri. The U.S. team members were Dan Belieff, Randy (Phillip) Kleinert, and team captain Tom Vallee.
On paper, the Japanese team was very strong. Enomoto and Nonaka were the top fliers for the Japanese FAI team, and Odagiri was a former team member. Richard Doig assured me that our team did not have a chance. He cited the strength of Nonaka and Enomoto, as well as the fact that Enomoto, a former Category I FAI world record holder, was very strong in this type of flying.
I responded that Richard should not sell us short, adding that I was also a former Category I world record holder (1975–1980). Dan Belieff was in good form, too. I felt we had a good chance. Ironically, it was Hideyo Enomoto who broke my world record in early 1981.
Privately, I agreed that Rich was probably right. I had been relatively inactive in F1D for about eight years and was still trying to get back into form. Dan Belieff was flying well, but Randy Kleinert was new to F1D competition—this was his first major contest. I felt that we might have an outside chance if we did our very best and the other side had problems.
As luck would have it, we all scored personal bests in the contest, and we won handily when the Japanese had problems. It was totally unexpected.
For this contest the U.S.A. team had ideal air conditions at the flying site—the NASA Auditorium at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Indoor flying at the auditorium is a sponsored activity of the Goddard Space Flight Center Model Aircraft Club (GSFC MAC). We thank the members of the GSFC MAC for their support and help in setting up flying sessions. Having regular practice sessions and familiarity with our flying site gave us a big advantage.
In a report on the 1991 contest published in Free Flight, the National Free Flight Society Digest, I pointed out just how lucky we were to win, and I suggested that the 1992 competition would be truly fierce.
Mr. Nonaka and I agreed that it would be nice if we could arrange for additional teams in 1992. He advised us that if we were successful, the contest would be considered a major competition in Japan.
I was able to recruit three teams: U.S.A. West Coast—Team Captain Bob Randolph, Cezar Banks, and Steve Brown; U.S.A. Midwest—Team Captain Chuck Slusarczyk, Don Slusarczyk, and Larry Loucka; and U.S.A. East Coast—Team Captain Tom Vallee, Dan Belieff, and Randy Kleinert.
With four past or present world championship team members, the U.S.A. West Coast and U.S.A. Midwest teams looked very strong. The Japanese side was to show similar strength.
Mr. Nonaka has to be complimented on the fine contest organization for the Japanese side. The Japanese held elimination contests to select teams representing three Japanese cities.
The contest "window" was August 1 through October 31, 1992. I had predicted fierce competition in 1992, but even I would never have believed that to place in the top three, one would have to break the 1990 world record—twice! More simply, two flights over 30 minutes were required to place.
Bob Randolph became the first man in the world to do 30 minutes in a Category I site (an eight-meter-ceiling room) when he set a new world record in 1990. Prior to this contest, we knew of only two fliers in the world who had done 30 minutes under a Category I ceiling. This contest has doubled that number and become a world-class competition.
One of the things we have learned from the contest is the importance of variable-pitch (VP) props for low- and medium-ceiling F1D competition. It is my understanding that the top fliers on each side used VP props.
The addition of sound-baffling panels to the ceiling of the Loma Linda, California, school gym made flying very difficult. Wing bracing wires tend to snag on the rough texture of the panels, thus destroying the models. Using ceiling bumpers and VP props, Bob Randolph and Steve Brown were able to break 30 minutes.
The outstanding individual performance of the 1992 contest was Bob Randolph's flights of 33:15 and 34:18. Both flights exceeded Bob's Category I world record of 32:18 by a good margin. Ironically, Bob had not renewed his Category I world record attempt sanction and could not claim a new world record—so the new AMA national record of 34:18 is two minutes higher than the world record. Nice flying indeed!
Kudos to Steve Brown for his 30:36 and 30:50 for a very strong third-place finish. Before the contest, who would have bet that such fine times would not be good enough for first place?
The unsung hero for the Americans was Cezar Banks. He was unfamiliar with the peculiarities of the Loma Linda site, and he had serious problems with models hanging up on the sound panels. In spite of this, Cezar gave his best under difficult conditions to score a respectable 41:07 total, which kept the U.S.A. West Coast team's score high enough to secure first place.
The loss of Chuck Slusarczyk's U.S.A. Midwest team was a great disappointment. Chuck lost access to his flying site and was unable to locate a suitable alternative before the contest deadline. His team is very strong, and we hope to have them back for the 1993 contest.
The U.S.A. East Coast team posted respectable times but was not able to duplicate its 1991 success. Dan Belieff and I built new models for the contest, but they did not perform as expected. If we can master the new VP prop techniques in time, we hope to improve in 1993.
American fliers may be surprised by the number of first-class fliers on the Japanese side, but F1D is definitely alive and well in Japan.
USA vs Japan F1D Postal Results - 1992
1 — U.S.A. West Coast (Team total: 170:06)
- Bob Randolph (Indiv. 1) — Best 2 of 6: 33:15 + 34:18 = 67:33
- Steve Brown (Indiv. 3) — Best 2 of 6: 30:36 + 30:50 = 61:26
- Cezar Banks (Indiv. 11) — Best 2 of 6: 17:50 + 23:17 = 41:07
2 — Japan – Kawasaki (Team total: 160:07)
- Satoshi Kinoshita (Indiv. 2) — Best 2 of 6: 30:39 + 31:29 = 62:08
- Kazumasa Kihara (Indiv. 6) — Best 2 of 6: 26:14 + 26:26 = 52:40
- Ryosuke Harada (Indiv. 8) — Best 2 of 6: 16:51 + 28:28 = 45:19
3 — Japan – Tokyo (Team total: 143:21)
- Shigeyoshi Nonaka (Indiv. 4) — Best 2 of 6: 26:21 + 27:54 = 54:15
- Kenichi Ohota (Indiv. 9) — Best 2 of 6: 23:21 + 21:13 = 44:34
- Hideyo Enomoto (Indiv. 10) — Best 2 of 6: 22:30 + 22:02 = 44:32
4 — U.S.A. East Coast (Team total: 127:00)
- Tom Vallee (Indiv. 7) — Best 2 of 6: 25:48 + 25:53 = 51:41
- Dan Belieff (Indiv. 12) — Best 2 of 6: 20:06 + 18:00 = 38:06
- Randy Kleinert (Indiv. 13) — Best 2 of 6: 17:50 + 19:23 = 37:13
5 — Japan – Nagoya Toyota (Team total: 123:25)
- Toshiaki Okada (Indiv. 5) — Best 2 of 6: 26:37 + 27:09 = 53:46
- Ryuji Matsuzawa (Indiv. 14) — Best 2 of 6: 16:53 + 19:11 = 36:04
- Isao Hamada (Indiv. 15) — Best 2 of 6: 15:34 + 18:01 = 33:35
The outstanding individual performance for the Japanese side was Satoshi Kinoshita's very fine 30:39 and 31:29. Mr. Kinoshita was a member of Japan's 1992 world championship team and has placed highly in Japanese national F1D contests. With his 30-minute flights in this contest, Mr. Kinoshita must be recognized as a world-class flier. On behalf of the American fliers, I would like to extend our heartiest congratulations on his excellent showing.
The Kawasaki team, led by Kinoshita, apparently had good air conditions, as each member posted good times. The team members had to fly all their rounds in one day; they were handicapped by an extremely tight flying schedule and were unable to complete their fifth- and sixth-round flights. With more flying time, they might well have been the first-place team.
The Tokyo team, led by Shigeyoshi Nonaka, scored well in spite of cold, rainy weather and the resultant poor air. They equaled the performance of last year's first-place team for a strong third-place finish this time. Nonaka moved up from last place in 1991 to fourth in 1992, right behind the 30-minute fliers.
In the qualifying contest at a nine-meter site, Nonaka's best time was 30:39 and Hideyo Enomoto's best flight was 29:52—very strong. If the Tokyo team had been blessed with better air, we might have had more 30-minute flights in the contest.
Nonaka and Enomoto have frequently been Japanese team members and have placed high in Japanese F1D championships. Mr. Nonaka was also the first Japanese flier to post a 40-minute flight with an F1D.
In this contest we have shown that you can do just about the same time in a Category I gym in Loma Linda or Yoyogi gym in Tokyo. The postal score-keeping method is accurate enough that the final results, with minor variations, are much what you could expect if everyone flew at the same site.
No longer do fliers interested in trying F1D need to be put off by only being able to compete once a year at the big contests in Idaho or Tennessee. With the advent of the F1D postal contest, you can compete with the best in the world at your local high school gym. As word of this opportunity gets out, we hope that many new fliers will be attracted to F1D competition.
It has been a pleasure to help organize and fly in this friendly contest between top Japanese and American F1D modelers. It is our hope that we can continue these contests for many years to come.
USA vs Japan F1D Postal Results - 1991
1 — U.S.A. (Team total: 144:31)
- Tom Vallee (Indiv. 1) — Best 2 of 6: 27:18 + 27:12 = 54:30
- Dan Belieff (Indiv. 3) — Best 2 of 6: 22:40 + 23:00 = 45:40
- Randy Kleinert (Indiv. 4) — Best 2 of 6: 21:41 + 22:40 = 44:21
2 — Japan (Team total: 115:01)
- Hideyo Enomoto (Indiv. 2) — Best 2 of 6: 25:48 + 26:52 = 52:40
- Hideharu Odagiri (Indiv. 5) — Best 2 of 6: 18:34 + 14:47 = 33:21
- Shigeyoshi Nonaka (Indiv. 6) — Best 2 of 6: 12:11 + 16:49 = 29:00
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
